The Philadelphia Eagles moved to 3-0 with a 37-34 victory over the Washington Redskins on Sunday. The Redskins fell to 1-2. Nick Foles led the Eagles with 325 passing yards and three touchdowns. Jeremy Maclin caught 8 balls for 154 yards and a touchdown, and Eagles rookie receiver Jordan Matthews scored his first two career touchdowns in the second quarter. Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins had the best game of his career starting in place of injured Robert Griffin III. Cousins completed 30 of 48 passes for 427 yards and three touchdowns. Washington receivers Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson combined for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Today was Jackson's first game in Philadelphia since the Eagles released him this offseason. Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins also recorded his second interception in two games.
Washington took the ball first and executed first down after first down. After a 13-yard pass from Cousins to DeSean Jackson, Jackson immediately sprung up and shoved Malcolm Jenkins. In retaliation, Eagle Nate Allen shoved Jackson, and surprisingly, Allen was assessed the unnecessary roughness penalty. Cousins led the Redskins down to the Philadelphia 4 yard line and then threw a touchdown pass to fullback Darrel Young to take a 7-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Eagles returner Chris Polk made multiple Washington defenders miss en route to a 102-yard touchdown to equal the score at 7-7.
On the next drive, Cousins converted three times on third down, including a 37-yard pass to tight end Niles Paul. Washington almost committed a turnover when the Eagles' Brandon Graham poked the ball loose from Washington running back Alfred Morris. Luckily for Morris, the ball bounced right in the hands of one of his teammates. The Redskins then took advantage of that fortunate bounce, and finished off the drive with a four-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Garcon.
Philadelphia's offense finally took the field, and responded by driving all the way to the Redskins' 14 yard line, where Darren Sproles, the reigning NFC Player of the Week, fumbled the ball at the tail end of an 18-yard run. Washington's Deangelo Hall recovered. The Redskins took advantage of Sproles's blunder with a 49-yard field goal by Kai Forbath to push the lead to 17-7.
On the first play of the ensuing Eagles drive, Jeremy Maclin turned a screen pass into an 80-yard touchdown, but it was called back because of an illegal block in the back by the Eagles' center, Jason Kelce. Just a short while later, Kelce was injured and did not return. Kelce's injury was another crushing blow for the Eagles offensive line, and he was not the only Eagles lineman to retreat to the locker room before the end of the game. The Eagles still drove into the red zone, where Foles hit Jordan Matthews for the receiver's first career touchdown.
The Redskins settled for another Forbath field goal on their next drive, and just before halftime, Foles hit Matthews again on a seam route up the middle of the field. Foles' throw was a beauty, and it gave the Eagles a 21-20 halftime lead.
The Eagles defense stifled the Redskins offense for most of the 3rd quarter, allowing the Eagles to take a 27-20 lead on two Cody Parkey field goals. However, with just over two minutes left in the quarter, Cousins connected with Jackson for an 81-yard touchdown. Jackson sprinted past the secondary, broke one tackle, and strutted into the end zone backwards. Jackson's touchdown knotted the score at 27-27.
WIth a little over 10 minutes to go in the 4th, Forbath shanked an easy 33 yard field off of the right upright. Had he made it the Redskins would have taken the lead, but instead, the game was still tied.
On the next play, Washington defensive back Bashaud Breeland intecepted Foles and began running upfield. As the play was ending, Redskins' defensive lineman Chris Baker unnecessarily decked Foles. The hit was an absolute cheap shot. The Eagles' All-Pro left tackle Jason Peters exchanged words with Baker, and each player grabbed the other's facemask . Baker's hit resulted in a skirmish on the sideline involving many players from both teams. Baker and Peters were both ejected from the game. With Peters' ejection, Todd Herremans was the only Eagles offensive lineman that had started week 1 left in the game. Upon reviewing the play, the referees ruled that Breeland did not catch the ball cleanly, so the Eagles kept possession. Foles rebounded from the cheap shot to throw a 27-yard touchdown to Jeremy Maclin, giving the Eagles a 34-27 advantage.
On the ensuing Redskins drive, Cousins floated a pass into no-man's land after a miscommunication with Niles Paul, and newly acquired Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins made an unbelievable play, showing off amazing closing speed and making a diving interception. After that, the Eagles' drive stalled, but Cody Parkey hit his eighth field goal in nine tries this season, giving the Birds a 37-27 lead.
When Washington needed a quick score to keep it a close game, they turned to backup running back Roy Helu. on his only two touches of the game, Helu caught a screen pass and tacked on 55 yards, and finished off the drive with a one-yard touchdown. Washington trailed 37-34 with just over 4 minutes left in the game.
The Washington defense got a much needed stop, stuffing LeSean McCoy twice and forcing a Foles incompletion. After a bad punt by the Eagles' Donnie Jones. Cousins took over at the Eagles' 41-yard line. After Alfred Morris was stopped at the line of scrimmage on first down, Cousins threw three straight incompletions, resulting in a turnover on downs. The Eagles then put the finishing touches on their victory by running out the clock.
After LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles torched the Eagles' AFC South foes, the Colts and Jaguars, during the first two games, the Redskins largely held them in check in Week 3. McCoy had his worst performance in recent memory, gaining a meager 22 yards on 19 carries. Sproles gained 20 yards on his two carries, but did not run the ball once after his fumble. After gaining 152 yards receiving against the Colts, Sproles gained only 30 yards on the Redskins.
The first priority for the Eagles this week should be replenishing their offensive line. Jason Peters will be back next game, but they need to get the rest of their injured starters healthy as soon as possible.
After his performance on Sunday, Kirk Cousins will definitely start at quarterback for the Redskins for the foreseeable future, at least until Robert Griffin III's ankle injury heals. The real question is, if Cousins continues to play like he did today, will coach Jay Gruden start him over Griffin, the 2012 Offensive Rookie of the Year who led Washington to a division title that season? Griffin has not been the same player since he suffered a serious knee injury in their playoff loss to the Seahawks during his rookie season.
The Eagles look to stay undefeated next week in San Francisco against the 49ers. The Redskins will face the division rival New York Giants at home.
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